Christmas Spirit comes alive at Ocean Pearl Cake-Mixing Ceremony

Christmas Spirit comes alive at Ocean Pearl Cake-Mixing Ceremony

Mangaluru: As they say that “Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth”- but in this case here” Too Many Bakers Surely Didn’t Spoil the Cake Mixing”, instead they will be creating some fantastic and delicious cakes come Christmas time. Wouldn’t it be fun to mix lots of colourful cherries, dates, plums and dry fruits together with your favourite drinks? However, the treat is not to savour immediately but to keep ready for the festive season. With around 34 plus days left for Christmas and New Year, the city’s premier Hotel Ocean Pearl began its celebrations with the cake mixing ceremony, which was graced by two guests of honor, executive and in-house staff of the hotel and media personnel- and the best part was that they were all geared up with aprons, caps and gloves to take part in the fun-filled ceremony, including yours truly!

It was an unusual invitation for me this evening, being clad in a chef apron and a cap, where I was surprised to see the American/European tradition over here and was delight to be part of the celebrations. Truly nice and colorful in the spirit of true Christmas. Few kilos of assorted dry fruits, dates, plums etc mixed with cinnamon, nutmeg and generous amounts of liquor like Rum, Brandy, Whiskey, red and white wine, and stored in a container until the festive season. This marinated assortment of dry fruits will be incorporated when baking of plum cakes and puddings starts around 18 December. The longer the mix is kept for, the tastier will be the cake, said one of the chefs of the hotel.

Yes, Christmas is no fun without the traditional Christmas cake; and making this cake is not a quick, easy simple step. Preparations begin months in advance. The first step towards making the cake is the mixing process, formally called the ‘Cake Mixing Ceremony’, a ritual religiously followed the world over and said to be a harbinger of good tidings and happiness. And locally, the management and staff of Hotel Ocean Pearl had its “Cake-Mixing Ceremony” today (22 November) at the Pacific Hall. The traditional cake-mixing ceremony conducted every year by the Hotel since last few years, saw the Chefs/bakers, managers, guests equipped with gloves, and engaging themselves adding varied alcoholic beverages to a generous quantity of dry fruits, tossing and coating the entire mixture in a massive vessel. Wine, rum, vodka, whisky, along with mounds of black raisins, brown dates, red cherries, cashews, cardamom and other exotic spices went in the cake-mixing ceremony. The more to mix, the merrier the feat.

That done, Chief baker Bhoja P got his merry band of men in to complete the mixing as it was now all down to muscle power! A load of fun and a load of work, all amidst great cheer and fervour. The holiday season was rung in under the watchful eye of Executive Chef Dewabrat Mandar, summoned in by the Hotel General Manager KP Singh each time before any culinary move was made! It should be noted that be it representing the harvest season or being a reason for family gathering, cake-mixing ceremony successfully marks the onset of Christmas season. While the cake-mixing ritual has now acquired a social face, it has not diluted its religious importance, and it remains to be one of the most awaited events in the Christian household, which marks the onset Christmas season.

While the Cake mixing ceremony is a sort of warming up to the Christmas time, it surely does more than just that. Addressing the gathering, BN Girish-Vice President of Ocean Pearl group said, ” This ceremony brings in the rhythm of Christmas, not only here at the Hotel, but all over the world. The efforts put in by the chefs and bakers behind this cake-mixing will make the cakes yummy. The punchline of Ocean Pearl is to celebrate life, and we always try to put smiles on peoples face. This ceremony is basically to bring in the Christmas festive mood and make merry. People who will get these cakes during the festive season will be in for a pleasant surprise too.”

General Manager of Ocean Pearl, KP Singh speaking to Team Mangalorean said, ” “Though the history talks about it as harvest ceremony, however, today cake-mixing is seen more in modern day context. And celebrating it as an occasion of social gathering and celebration is more relevant. It is in itself very old and so it can too be called the history of the ceremony. This ritual, in fact, marks the beginning of a very busy year for the baking industry. Hotels and bakeries celebrate it in a big way. The cake mixing ceremony at our Hotel has become an event in the calendar when the staff really bonds with each other. Donning gloves and red aprons, the ritual of pouring and mixing the wine into the chopped fruit is performed with much enthusiasm and gaiety. And the flavor of dry fruits mixing with wine is an experience in itself.”

Executive Chef Dewabrat Mandar said that the entire mixture would be sealed in airtight containers and left to mature around till Christmas. Around 18 December or so, the cake baking will start. This practice is followed in several western countries and it has become an annual celebratory ritual for us at Ocean Pearl. After the specified duration, the entire mixture is blended with cake batter and baked to unveil the traditional cake for the people. I cherish this celebration because it sets the festive mood in. Though it doesn’t have any religious connotation, it continued as it is the first gathering “.

Guests of honor who took also took part in the Cake-Mixing ceremony were Sanjay Prabhu (an entrepreneur), Deepa Pai ( House-wife), Laxman Kunder ( Managing Director-V4 News), among others. Nidhi Priya, a degree student of St Aloysius College professionally compered the ceremony. Now that the cake-mixing is ready, and delicious and yummy Christmas cakes will be created ten days before Christmas, Hotel Ocean Pearl requests all you cake lovers to stop by at the Hotel, and take home one of their cakes meticulously prepared by the in-house chefs and bakers. Christmas has already come early at Hotel Ocean Pearl!

As per sources, the History of the cake-mixing ceremony dates back to the 17th century, when it marked the arrival of the harvest season. During this time lots of fruits and nuts were harvested and prepared to go into the making of the traditional plum cake. The mix was saved up for the next harvest season with the hope that the coming year would bring with it another abundant year. This ceremony quickly metamorphosed to a close affair, with the family sitting together and soaking dry fruits in wine or rum and hoping that the fine flavor fills their Christmas with delectable sweetness.